Spelunky is © 2008, 2009 Derek Yu and Mossmouth, LLC, and is used under the [Spelunky User License v1.1b](https://spelunky.ai/LICENSE.txt). spelunky.ai is an unofficial fan project, not affiliated with or endorsed by Mossmouth. The game and its assets may not be sold.

Music by George Buzinkai and Jonathan Perry; sound effects made in SFXR. From Spelunky Classic 1.1, © 2008, 2009 Derek Yu and Mossmouth, LLC.

# Magma Man

From the spelunky.ai wiki: <https://spelunky.ai/wiki/magma-man>. Verified against the spelunky.ai port [v0.1.10](https://github.com/851-labs/spelunky/releases/tag/v0.1.10) on 27 October 2026.

The Magma Man is a living blob of lava in Spelunky Classic that forms where lava spurts, burns the player for 2 hearts on touch, and burns out by itself.

![A small figure of glowing orange magma, walking and shedding sparks](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/media/17b72a4951674638/sprites/sMagmaManWalkL/anim%404x.png)

| Magma Man |                                                       |
| --------- | ----------------------------------------------------- |
| Health    | 200 hit points[^1]                                    |
| Damage    | 2 hearts[^2]                                          |
| Speed     | 1.5 pixels per step[^3]                               |
| Behaviour | Wanders, then burns out or melts back into a blob[^4] |
| Objects   | `oMagmaMan`, `oMagma`                                 |
| Found in  | The Temple[^5], Olmec's Lair[^5]                      |

Magma Men come out of lava: a lava spurt sometimes throws up a blob of magma, which forms into a Magma Man
where it lands. A Magma Man wanders the ground like a [Hawkman](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/hawkman), burning anything it touches, and
there's almost nothing to do about one but keep away: it can't be stomped or whipped to death, and a
Bomb only makes two. It doesn't last, though: within 200 steps it burns
out.

## Behaviour

**Clip: Magma Man.** Lava spurts a blob of magma onto the floor beside the pool, where it forms into a magma man. It wanders the floor, stopping at the lava's edge, until it burns out and crumbles. ([video](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/media/17b72a4951674638/clips/magma-man/spawn/clip.mp4))

**From lava.** Each block of lava with open air above it has a 1 in 4 chance, when the level is made, of
being one that spurts[^6]. While the player is within 240 pixels,
a spurting block spurts every 100–300 steps, and 1 spurt in 8 is a blob of magma rather than a flame[^7][^8]. The blob flies up
and falls, leaving a fiery trail; if it lands on the ground, it forms into a Magma Man there, carrying the
blob's hit points[^9][^10].
A blob that falls back into the lava, leaves the screen, hits water or hasn't landed within 60 steps (2
seconds) is gone[^11][^12][^13]. The clip shows a spurt throwing a blob onto the floor
beside a pool of lava, where it forms into a Magma Man, which wanders the floor until it burns out[^14].

**Walking.** A Magma Man walks at 1.5 pixels per step
(45 per second), turning around at walls. At the edge of a ledge, and
with a 1 in 100 chance each step, it stops to stand for 20–50 steps (0.67–1.67 seconds), then sets off in
a random direction[^15]. Each time it sets off, it has a 1 in 6
chance of melting back into a blob of magma instead, which keeps its hit points and forms again where it
lands[^16]. A Magma Man that isn't standing on anything, knocked
off a ledge or with the floor blown out from under it, turns into a new blob at once, which has a fresh
200, whatever it had left[^17][^18][^19].

**Burning out.** It loses 1 hit point every step, so its 200 hit points last at most
200 steps (6.67 seconds). With none left, or if it ends up inside solid ground,
it stops and crumbles away[^20][^21].

## Damage

**Clip: Magma Man touch.** A magma man forms from a blob of lava and walks into the player, burning him for 2 hearts. It collapses back into a blob, which bounces into him again and kills him. ([video](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/media/17b72a4951674638/clips/magma-man/touch/clip.mp4))

When the player touches a Magma Man, unless he's invincible from a hit in the last 30 steps, he loses
2 hearts, is knocked up and away from it, is stunned, and catches fire for
100 steps (3.33 seconds), which only looks the part[^22][^23].
Its touch has no stomp: landing on one burns him the same. A flying blob of magma does the same, for
2 hearts[^24]. The clip
shows a Magma Man walking into the player, then melting into a blob that bounces into him again and kills
him[^25].

It burns other monsters too: one it touches loses 2 hit points, catches fire, is knocked away and, but for
a [Tomb Lord](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/tomb-lord) or the [Yeti King](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/yeti-king), is stunned[^26].

## Defeating

**Clip: Magma Man bombed.** The player drops a bomb at his feet as a magma man forms nearby, and it walks into him and burns him. The explosion kills the player and splits the magma man into two blobs of magma, which land and form two magma men. ([video](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/media/17b72a4951674638/clips/magma-man/bomb/clip.mp4))

A Magma Man can't be killed so much as waited out. Most of what kills monsters does nothing to it:

| Way                                  | Effect                             |            |
| ------------------------------------ | ---------------------------------- | ---------- |
| Whip                                 | Nothing: it only makes a hit sound | [^27][^19] |
| The Whip's wind-up behind the player | 1 for every step it touches it     | [^28][^19] |
| Stomp                                | None: it burns the player instead  | [^22]      |
| A thrown item or stunned monster     | Nothing: they pass through it      | [^29][^30] |
| A Shotgun or Pistol bullet           | 4 hit points                       | [^31]      |
| A Bomb's explosion                   | Splits it into two blobs of magma  | [^32]      |
| Its own heat                         | 1 every step                       | [^33]      |

An explosion that touches a Magma Man replaces it with two blobs of magma, each with a fresh
200 hit points, so a bomb makes two Magma Men where there was one[^32][^18][^19]. A bomb
it touches is lit, going off 8–12 steps later, and knocked away from it[^34]. The clip shows a bomb going off by a Magma Man:
the blast kills the player, beside it, and the Magma Man bursts into two blobs, which land and form two
Magma Men[^35].

Its own step event replaces the one most monsters share, which is where Spikes, Lava,
Spear Traps and water hurt them, so none of those harm a Magma Man[^36]. Its death isn't counted as a kill.

## Locations

Magma Men aren't made with the level: they come from lava spurts, wherever there's lava with open air above
it on a level. That's the Temple, whose rooms can have pools of lava[^37][^38], and
Olmec's Lair, with its sea of lava below[^8]. Custom levels with lava get them too, as the
level editor has lava (tile `l`) but no Magma Man[^39].

## Tips

- A Magma Man burns out within 200 steps (6.67 seconds), so waiting at a
  distance is the safe answer.
- Don't bomb one: an explosion turns it into two, each with a fresh 200 steps
  to live.
- Landing on a Magma Man burns the player: it can't be stomped.
- It burns other monsters for 2 hit points, so it can thin out the Temple's Cavemen and Hawkmen.

## Trivia

- Its object has a throwing state, as the [Hawkman](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/hawkman)'s does, which nothing uses[^40].

## FAQ

### How much damage does a Magma Man do in Spelunky Classic?

2 hearts per touch, and the player is stunned and knocked away. Landing on one is no stomp: it burns him just the same. A flying blob of magma burns him for 2 hearts too.

### How do you kill a Magma Man in Spelunky Classic?

It dies by itself: it loses a hit point every step, so its 200 last at most 200 steps (6.67 seconds). The Whip, stomps and thrown items don't hurt it, and a Bomb splits it into two new ones.

### Where do Magma Men come from in Spelunky Classic?

From lava. Some lava spurts throw up a blob of magma instead of a flame, and a blob that lands on the ground forms into a Magma Man. They appear wherever lava spurts, in the Temple and Olmec's Lair.

### What happens if you bomb a Magma Man in Spelunky Classic?

It splits into two blobs of magma, each of which can land and form a new Magma Man with a full 200 hit points. A bomb it touches is lit at once, and knocked away.

## See also

- **Damaged by:** Whip (only its wind-up)[^28], Shotgun[^31], Pistol[^31]
- **Related:** [Olmec](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/olmec)
- **Damages:** [Hawkman](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/hawkman), [Tomb Lord](https://spelunky.ai/wiki/tomb-lord)

## References

[^1]: `objects/oMagmaMan/create.gml:10`

[^2]: `objects/oMagmaMan/collision_oCharacter.gml:17`

[^3]: `objects/oMagmaMan/step.gml:60`

[^4]: `objects/oMagmaMan/step.gml:1-85`

[^5]: `objects/oLava/step.gml:6-15`

[^6]: `scripts/scrSetupWalls.gml:398-414`

[^7]: `objects/oLava/create.gml:2-5`

[^8]: `objects/oLava/step.gml:1-15`

[^9]: `objects/oMagma/step.gml:3-9`

[^10]: `objects/oMagma/other_animation_end.gml:1-6`

[^11]: `objects/oDetritus/create.gml:5`

[^12]: `objects/oDetritus/step.gml:1-15`

[^13]: `objects/oMagma/collision_oWater.gml:1-2`

[^14]: Clip magma-man/spawn

[^15]: `objects/oMagmaMan/step.gml:30-85`

[^16]: `objects/oMagmaMan/step.gml:37-48`

[^17]: `objects/oMagmaMan/step.gml:13-19`

[^18]: `objects/oMagma/create.gml:9`

[^19]: Quirk 1 (docs/quirks.md)

[^20]: `objects/oMagmaMan/step.gml:1-8`

[^21]: `objects/oMagmaMan/other_animation_end.gml:1-4`

[^22]: `objects/oMagmaMan/collision_oCharacter.gml:1-22`

[^23]: `objects/oPlayer1/step.gml:188-193`

[^24]: `objects/oMagma/collision_oCharacter.gml:1-18`

[^25]: Clip magma-man/touch

[^26]: `objects/oMagmaMan/collision_oEnemy.gml:1-19`

[^27]: `objects/oMagmaMan/collision_oWhip.gml:1-6`

[^28]: `objects/oEnemy/collision_oWhipPre.gml:1`

[^29]: `objects/oItem/step.gml:261`

[^30]: `objects/oEnemy/step.gml:177`

[^31]: `objects/oBullet/collision_oEnemy.gml:16`

[^32]: `objects/oExplosion/collision_oEnemy.gml:1-11`

[^33]: `objects/oMagmaMan/step.gml:1`

[^34]: `objects/oMagmaMan/collision_oBomb.gml:1-18`

[^35]: Clip magma-man/bomb

[^36]: `objects/oEnemy/step.gml:34-128`

[^37]: `scripts/scrRoomGen4.gml:137-138`

[^38]: `scripts/scrRoomGen4.gml:497-500`

[^39]: `scripts/scrCreateTileObj.gml:69-72`

[^40]: `objects/oMagmaMan/create.gml:13-18`

### Source code

- `objects/oMagmaMan/create.gml`
- `objects/oMagmaMan/step.gml`
- `objects/oMagmaMan/collision_oCharacter.gml`
- `objects/oMagmaMan/collision_oEnemy.gml`
- `objects/oMagmaMan/collision_oWhip.gml`
- `objects/oMagmaMan/collision_oBomb.gml`
- `objects/oMagmaMan/other_animation_end.gml`
- `objects/oMagma/create.gml`
- `objects/oMagma/step.gml`
- `objects/oMagma/collision_oCharacter.gml`
- `objects/oMagma/other_animation_end.gml`
- `objects/oLava/step.gml`
- `objects/oExplosion/collision_oEnemy.gml`
